Coglianese / NYRA Photo Photo Photo

Vosburgh favorite Imperial Hint looking to parlay September Super Saturday to Breeders' Cup

by NYRA Press Office

• Albertrani 'very optimistic' about Sadler's Joy in G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic
• Silver Ride looks to upset favorite in Saturday's G1 Vosburgh
• Carlino taking 'big step up'; cross-entered in G1 JCGC, Temperence Hill

Multiple graded stakes winner Imperial Hint will look to add his second straight Grade 1 with a victory in Saturday's $350,000 Vosburgh at six furlongs on Belmont Park's main track.

Owned by Raymond Mamone, Imperial Hint enters the weekend looking to build on his 3 ¾-length score in in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap on July 28 at Saratoga Race Course.

The Vanderbilt marked the first Grade 1 victory for both the 5-year-old son of Imperialism and trainer Luis Carvajal, Jr. Closing under Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano, Imperial Hint won effortlessly while finishing just .94 seconds off the track record set by Speightstown in the 2004 Vanderbilt.

A win on Saturday would pave the way for a berth to the Breeders' Cup Sprint on November 3 at Churchill Downs, a track where the winner of 11-from-17 career starts has not fared well. In just his third career race, Imperial Hint finished 12th in the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile after setting the pace and tiring, then returned two years later in the Grade 2 Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard, finishing a tired to sixth over the sloppy and sealed track.

With a possible return to the Breeders' Cup Sprint - a year after his second-place finish by one length behind winner Roy H. - Carvajal is faced with returning to the historic track under the Twin Spires but said he hopes the third time is the charm for his horse.

"Churchill Downs is a very tricky racetrack, but I think that it was just bad luck," Carvajal said. "The first time I ran the horse in Kentucky it was a mile race, and I thought he would have no problem going a mile because he won going seven-eighths and he galloped out really nice. I kept him in the Pat Day Mile because it was one turn. They went blazing, and I think they went three quarters in 1:08 and change that day and 1:21 for the seven-eighths, and he just put the brakes on.

"We went to the lead and went very fast too, and he got caught on the inside, and didn't run good. The last sixteenth was tough on him. He was stuck on the inside. It was a tough race, but we still lost by only four lengths, but I think it would be a very different scenario if he goes back there and runs three-quarters. If we do go back to Kentucky, it's a different game, and the third one is the lucky charm. I hope it definitely works that way."

Since the Vanderbilt, Imperial Hint has blazed through four bullet breezes over the main track at Parx.

"Last year, he used to work fast," Carvajal said. "Even if you just sit on him, and don't ask him, just work him against the bit, he'll work fast, you'll get him to go quite fast. Now, we do the same thing. I worked him a half-mile, and I don't use a jock, I use my exercise rider Pedro, he knows the horse. He breaks off and just sits back and lets him go a little bit, and he just goes like that all the way to the wire. He just works fast and he gets a lot out of his work. It's good.

"Like I say, horses are like football players," he added. "You get the best players sometimes, but then things happen. I just keep my fingers crossed. We'll go towards this race Saturday, and then after Saturday on to the next. I would love to go to the Breeders' Cup again. I wondered after if I would ever get back to the Breeders' Cup, and now it looks like we're going that way again. It's like a miracle. It's wonderful to go back to the Breeders' Cup with a horse that has a chance. Hopefully he stays healthy and the horse is happy. Then we have a chance."

*      *     *

Albertrani 'very optimistic' about Sadler's Joy in G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic

Woodslane Farm's multiple graded stakes winner Sadler's Joy is all systems go for Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, said trainer Tom Albertrani Thursday morning.

Albertrani said he's willing to draw a line through the 5-year-old's Grade 1 Sword Dancer on August 25 at Saratoga Race Course, where he closed from last to finish sixth by seven lengths, his largest margin of defeat in 20 lifetime starts.

With more than $1.7 million in lifetime earnings, Sadler's Joy has hit the board in 13 of those starts, including six wins, most notably posting a half-length victory in the 2017 Sword Dancer. This spring, Sadler's Joy finished second in the Grade 1 Man o' War and Grade 1 Manhattan by a half-length and a neck, respectively, and finished a close third in the Grade 2 Bowling Green behind dead-heat winners Glorious Empire and Channel Maker on July 28 prior to the Sword Dancer.

"His last start was really the only race that he didn't finish with fire, but he's trained really well since then so we're still very optimistic he can come back and run as well as he ever has," said Albertrani. "We all deserve one off day."

Sadler's Joy, by Kitten's Joy, wrapped up his major preparations for the Turf Classic with a strong gallop on Friday.

"He galloped out really great Friday and then we got bad weather, so there wasn't much we could do over the weekend, but he's ready to go," Albertrani said. "It's pretty much standard for what he does leading up to a race anyway."

Albertrani added that Godolphin's Grade 2 Glens Falls winner Lady Montdore is on track for the Grade 1, $500,000 Flower Bowl for fillies and mares on Sunday, October 7 during the October Festival of Racing. The 1 ¼-mile Flower Bowl, a Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" for the Filly & Mare Turf, will mark the 4-year-old Medaglia d'Oro filly's third U.S. start after beginning her career in France.

Lady Montdore won her domestic debut for Albertrani on August 6 with a 4 ½-length score in a turf allowance at Saratoga Race Course and followed up with her front-running 2 ¼-length victory in the Glens Falls on the Spa's closing weekend. Both races were at 1 3/8 miles over an inner turf course listed as good.

"She's doing well," said Albertrani. "The biggest thing has been the rain. It seems like it's been following us all summer. At least with her, I know it doesn't make much difference. She likes it soft and I'm sure she'll get over any ground. With her light frame too, it looks like she's suited to soft ground. Overall though, I'm really happy with how she's progressed since she's been here. She's a really nice filly."

*      *     *

Silver Ride looks to upset favorite in Saturday's G1 Vosburgh

Trainer Brian Lynch will saddle Jim and Susan Hill's Silver Ride in Saturday's Grade 1 Vosburgh with the hope that his 6-year-old Candy Ride gelding works out a favorable trip behind the front-running multiple graded stakes winner Imperial Hint, the strong 1-5 favorite on the morning line.

Lynch, as well as five other trainers in the Vosburgh, is looking to topple Imperial Hint leading up to this year's Breeders' Cup Sprint.

"You take Imperial Hint out of there and it's anybody's race," said Lynch. "If he doesn't show up, it's anybody's race, but if he shows up you're running for second. You can't dodge one horse and he [Silver Ride] fits with the rest of them. They've all got to run.

"Like I said, you can't duck one horse. If he shows up he's the cat's daddy, but if he doesn't we're going to be trying at the wire," he added.

Silver Ride will look to win his sixth from his 20th career start in Saturday's Vosburgh, and like five others in the field of seven makes his first Grade 1 start. His only stakes try came in the Tale of the Cat on August 10 at Saratoga where he finished third less than two months after he made his first start of the year winning by a nose against open claiming company at Belmont.

Lynch added that Grade 2 Glens Falls Stakes fifth-place finisher Savannah Belle is being pointed to the Grade 1 Flower Bowl.

The 4-year-old filly by Discreetly Mine owns a claiming-level victory among eight starts this year and finished as the runner-up in the River Memories on July 8 at Belmont Park before her fourth-place finish on the dirt in the 1 ¼-mile Fasig-Tipton Waya after it was taken off the turf due to weather on August 12 at Saratoga.

"It's not going to be a really big field and I've got a hard-knocking filly in Savannah Belle, so I might just try her," said Lynch. "She's actually doing quite well, and I think it gives us a chance to get a Grade 1 placing on a filly that wants to run that far."

Lynch will aim his 2-year-old Joyful Heart to the $150,000 Futurity at six furlongs on the turf October 7. The juvenile Kitten's Joy colt was fifth in his debut before returning to win by 2 ¼ lengths in a six-furlong turf sprint on July 8 at Belmont. Joyful Heart followed with a third-place finish in the Grade 3 With Anticipation at 1 1/16 miles on the turf on August 29 at Saratoga.

The Futurity will serve as a prep race towards the new $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint run on "Future Stars Friday" as one of five races for 2-year-olds on November 2 at Churchill Downs.

"It's the first year, so we'll see how it goes. If you got a quick 2-year-old, it's good; I mean, Wesley [Ward] will probably dominate that race, but our guy is pretty quick," said Lynch. "He broke his maiden impressively in his second start here, and was third in the With Anticipation, but he's probably better off sprinting, so we'll take a crack at that."

*      *     *

Carlino taking 'big step up'; cross-entered in G1 JCGC, Temperence Hill

Courtlandt Farm's homebred Carlino, a 1 ½-length winner of an optional claimer on August 26, will try to play the role of spoiler for trainer Mark Hennig in the Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday.

Installed at 30-1 on the morning line for the Gold Cup, Carlino earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure for his latest effort, closing from last of six to win the 1 1/8-mile route, his first race at shorter than 1 3/8 miles since finishing third in the Mr. Sinatra in March. Following the Mr. Sinatra, the 4-year-old Lemon Drop Kid gelding was fourth in the Flat Out and then finished fifth behind Hoppertunity in Grade 2 Brooklyn Invitational in June, his first graded stakes try.

His pacesetting trip in the 1 ¾-mile Birdstone on August 2 at Saratoga encouraged Hennig to cut Carlino back in distance in an effort to get him back to his preferred, off-the-pace running style.

"We felt like in that last race, he really appreciated having an honest pace in front of him," said Hennig. "We tried stretching him out in those marathon races and he ended up on the lead in one of them, which is just not the way he wants to run. So, we backed him up in that allowance race and it worked.

"Then watching the Woodward, it looked like a lot of those horses weren't coming at the end, and he's a horse that's always coming at the end," he added. "Obviously, it's a big step up in class, but we feel like it's an opportunity to let him try and get a piece of it. He's run well at a mile and a sixteenth to a mile and a quarter, but I think it's also a matter of getting a legitimate pace. I felt like in this race, we've got a good shot to get a legitimate pace."

Carlino will be cross-entered in Sunday's $200,000 Temperence Hill Invitational at 1 5/8 miles as a Plan B, said Hennig, in the event that the weather gets temperamental before this weekend.

"In the Temperence Hill, we probably won't get that same kind of pace, but he's not a big fan of mud or slop and it doesn't cost us anything to enter, so we're going to put him in there just in case something strange happens and he doesn't run Saturday," said Hennig. "I don't foresee that, but just in case."